A strange figure has been appearing in the park. When Sakura passes by with her friends, she freaks out as they all see different things. Kero insists on checking it out. Unfortunately, no one expects for Sakura to see the spirit of her mother.
Tropes for this episode include:
- Adaptational Heroism: Downplayed. In the manga, the Illusion Card actively tried to drown Sakura in the lake. then when it tried to avoid capture, Sakura had to use Watery. Here, Illusion dangles in front of the cliff, so that Sakura follows without realizing the cliff is there, and gets into a trance. The Illusion also puts up no resistance when Sakura captures it in the anime.
- Adaptation Induced Plothole: In the manga, Sakura encountered the image of her mother in the lake, and fainted because the Clow Card nearly drowned her. Here, she merely follows the card off a cliff, and for some reason this causes her to faint. Note that it's not the impact of the fall that knocks her out; she faints after walking off the cliff, and the spirit of her mother gently lowers her to the ground.
- Apology Gift: Kero brings a flower for Sakura, while Tomoyo brings a wrapped present, as an apology for not being able to help her.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Sakura tells Yukito that she saw her mother in the park. Yukito asks her why her mother would want to hurt her. This becomes a Meaningful Echo.
- Everyone Has Standards: Kero tells Sakura she doesn't have to confront the ghost again if it endangers her. He doesn't want her to get killed. Sakura thanks him, though she says she wants to find out why her mother is on Earth and not in the "beautiful place in the sky".
- Genre Savvy: Sakura despite her phobia is aware that ghosts will return to Earth if they have Unfinished Business, and it's usually troublesome.
- Kirk Summation: Kero gives one after Sakura captures the Illusion Card: the card showed people images of what they were thinking. Tomoyo recalls, for example, that she was thinking of meat buns. Sakura when she saw her mother was thinking of the photo her father set up in the kitchen shrine. When she, Kero and Tomoyo see the illusion of her mother in the climax, it's because they were all thinking of her.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": Subverted; at first it seems all the girls are freaking out at what they saw, except for Tomoyo. She mentions that she saw a giant nikuman, or meat bun.
- Tears of Joy: Sakura cries these when she finds out, to her relief, that her mother hadn't left the place in the sky.
- Unfinished Business: Invoked; Sakura suspects this is why her mother is showing up. It ends up being double-subverted; while the Nadeshiko they saw was an illusion, the real Nadeshiko saved Sakura from falling the first time, and checks on her after the card is captured. Based on Toya's reaction, his mother visits often.
- Wham Shot:
- The ghostly hand guiding Sakura to the ground after she walks off the cliff.
- Sakura's mother Nadeshiko turning into a pattern. Kero recognizes it as a Clow Card.
- Toya sees the real ghost of Nadeshiko after she comes to check on him and Sakura.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Sakura has a phobia of ghosts because after their mother died, Toya scared her by talking about all the spirits he could see.
